Michigan State University Athletics
MSU Cross Country/Track & Field Hall of Famer Henry Kennedy Passes Away
3/12/2025 10:51:00 AM | Track and Field
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Former Michigan State Big Ten Cross Country Champion Henry Kennedy passed away on March 7.
Kennedy, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, was born in 1932. He was a three-year letterwinner at MSU and was inducted into the inaugural class of Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992 alongside his brother, Crawford.
As a freshman, not yet varsity eligible in 1954, Kennedy won the National AAU Cross Country Championship, impressing MSU's then coach, Karl Schlademan. He was becoming one of MSU's top runners, which was saying a lot as Schlademan's teams had won three NCAA championships in his first six years as cross country coach and his previous athletes included future MSU Hall of Famer Bill Mack, NCAA mile champion and 1952 Olympian Warren Druetzler.
In 1955, as a sophomore, Kennedy won the high-profile IC4A cross country championship in New York City and finished second to Iowa's US Olympian Charles Jones in the NCAA championship in what remains the closest-ever 1-2 finish in NCAA history. He also helped lead the Spartans to Big Ten Cross Country Championships in 1955, 1956 and 1957.
Kennedy won the NCAA Steeplechase title on the track in 1956. He also repeated as IC4A cross country champion and took third place in the NCAA race, while leading MSU to the team title in both events. Kennedy also won the Big Ten title in the two-mile run.
In 1957, he ran alongside his brother, Crawford, and helped lead MSU to another IC4A cross country title and a second-place finish in the NCAA Championship.
Kennedy, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, was born in 1932. He was a three-year letterwinner at MSU and was inducted into the inaugural class of Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992 alongside his brother, Crawford.
As a freshman, not yet varsity eligible in 1954, Kennedy won the National AAU Cross Country Championship, impressing MSU's then coach, Karl Schlademan. He was becoming one of MSU's top runners, which was saying a lot as Schlademan's teams had won three NCAA championships in his first six years as cross country coach and his previous athletes included future MSU Hall of Famer Bill Mack, NCAA mile champion and 1952 Olympian Warren Druetzler.
In 1955, as a sophomore, Kennedy won the high-profile IC4A cross country championship in New York City and finished second to Iowa's US Olympian Charles Jones in the NCAA championship in what remains the closest-ever 1-2 finish in NCAA history. He also helped lead the Spartans to Big Ten Cross Country Championships in 1955, 1956 and 1957.
Kennedy won the NCAA Steeplechase title on the track in 1956. He also repeated as IC4A cross country champion and took third place in the NCAA race, while leading MSU to the team title in both events. Kennedy also won the Big Ten title in the two-mile run.
In 1957, he ran alongside his brother, Crawford, and helped lead MSU to another IC4A cross country title and a second-place finish in the NCAA Championship.
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